Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler star in this wildly funny battle of the sexes. Abby (Heigl), a successful morning show producer, is looking for a lot in a man. Mike (Butler), her obnoxious TV star, knows men only want on... more &raquoe thing. Determined to prove that she's not romantically challenged, Abby takes Mike's advice during a promising new romance, but the unexpected results will stun everyone.&laquo less

This movie is great for a date. Guys seriously, the woman will enjoy herself, and you will laugh HARD.

Butler and Heigl had good performances, though sometimes the writting went a little overboard and even they couldn't hold it together. I think their chemistry was excellent, and I hope to see them in more movies together. Both of the main charactors are extreme personalities ... and humorously enough I know people like each of them ... though I would never want to be in the same room with them if they ever met. There are some scenes that are going to live forever from this film.

Great flick, I probably wouldn't buy it, but I did watch it twice. It was a good $1.00 spent on a date night ...

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

April T. (Grapeape) from HAMILTON, AL Reviewed on 10/2/2011...

I love this movie. It is great. I would recommend it to any one. Very funny and great love story.

Not Katherine Heigl, or Gerard Butler's best acting, the language was foul the humor was crude and I loved every Min., of it! Hilarious!

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Heather F. (8izenuff) from PHOENIX, AZ Reviewed on 1/21/2010...

This movie reminded me alot of The movie AMY"S O. Very similiar plot. Shock jock meets uptight woman, they clash, they fight, the call a truce, and they have chemistry, that leads to love and sex. This was a very good movie. Gerard Butler's character is outrageously rude, but often accurate. If you are offended by graphic and crude sexual talk, this might offend you.

Movie Reviews

Battle of the Sexes

Chris Pandolfi | Los Angeles, CA | 07/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Ugly Truth" represents something I never thought I'd see: A romantic comedy that both women and men will appreciate. Granted, it probably won't be for the same reasons. Women will like it because underneath it all, it's a fairly typical romantic comedy, the story of Girl Hates Boy, Boy Hates Girl, Boy and Girl Fall in Love Anyway. Men will like it because one of the main characters expresses much of what they think and feel on a daily basis. Everyone will like it because the story is engaging and the characters are not mere cardboard caricatures. You can actually invest in them, and you're able to care about what's going on. What could easily have been a routine date night movie is instead a surprisingly good movie that need not wait until date night. It's also genuinely funny--a bit raunchy, yes, but funny just the same.

Much of the film's success is due to the wonderful onscreen chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. They continuously make us laugh, yet the comedy is not so broad that you can't believe them in their roles. They make a point of interacting with one another, not as comic relief but as real people. Heigl plays Abby Richter, the romantically challenged, neurotic, controlling producer of a failing Sacramento morning talk show. Butler plays Mike Chadaway, the chauvinistic host of a public access relationship program called "The Ugly Truth." He's unapologetically tell-it-like-it-is in matters of men and women. There's no such thing, he claims, as a sensitive, nurturing man who wants to connect at an emotional level. Men just want sex, plain and simple. And they only want it with attractive women.

Abby, who thinks Mike's rhetoric is appalling, is horrified when she learns that he has been hired to her station in an effort to boost ratings. They clash at every turn ... until he learns that she's interested in dating her next door neighbor--an orthopedic surgeon named Colin (Eric Winter) who just happens to be incredibly handsome. Sensing she's doing everything wrong to initiate a relationship, Mike offers to help Abby by having her test his relationships theories on Colin. She reluctantly agrees, and sure enough, Mike's methods work wonders. She dresses more provocatively. She learns to stop being critical and avoid discussing her personal problems. She learns to be the embodiment of both the saint and the sinner, or as Mike puts it, "The librarian and the stripper."

And that's when things start to get more complex. Abby is succeeding with Colin, but only at the expense of not being herself. On the other hand, could anyone love her as herself? She is, after all, known for bringing background checks and printed topics of conversation to blind dates. As for Mike, he has very definite reasons for believing that loving relationships are a sham. They're gradually revealed not only through carefully structured scenes, but also through Butler, who shows he can find the right balance between smug and sensitive. We see that Mike is the closest thing his young nephew has for a father, and even though he playfully gives the boy relationship advice, he's also quick to remind him that kids should never, ever watch his show.

Heigl also manages a balancing act with her performance, specifically between strength and vulnerability. Abby overachieves at work to compensate for a lack of a love life, which initially seems funny but steadily grows desperate. For reasons she doesn't care to admit to, she's falling in love with Mike, and he too is falling in love with her. But what about Colin? Is he with Abby only because of the façade Mike told her to put up? There's a scene between her and Colin late in the film that directly addresses this issue, and to my delight, it's handled in a way that avoids just about everything that would happen in the average romantic comedy. There are no shouting matches. There are no flying fists. There are no confrontations. There's only a quiet moment of realization that the truth is indeed ugly.

Scenes like these are wonderfully juxtaposed with moments of well written comedy. There are some very amusing moments between Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins as unhappily married news anchors who share the same desk and time slot. The film's single funniest scene takes place in a restaurant and involves Abby, an extremely stimulating pair of underwear, and a control device that ends up in the wrong hands.

I can say with complete honesty (and some embarrassment) that I wasn't expecting such a strong film. I certainly wasn't expecting a strong film belonging to this particular genre. What floors me is that two of the three writers of this film are Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. There are the same two that brought us "The House Bunny," one of the worst films of 2008. They certainly got it right this time around. "The Ugly Truth" is one of the best romantic comedies I've seen in a long time, a delightful and absorbing tale about the fronts people display. It's funny without lowering itself to the level of cheap gags, and this is in spite of the film's well-deserved R rating. Heigl and Butler convincingly pull off a romance, no small feat given the contrived nature of these kinds of films. At last, a date movie both the man and the woman can enjoy."

Bad taste

rocky mt lady | colorado spgs, co | 11/19/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Not the light hearted comedy I expected at all. But chalk this up to our present freedom of expression mentality. I expected LOTS more from these two actors. What you get is constant profanity and extreme sexual references. I found it worthless as a film. Very disappointing after seeing Gerald in PS I love you. and Katherine having numerous cute and funny romantic comedies under her belt. I found it offensive and disappointing. They had chemistry but needed a script that had vocabulary...."

Very naughty, but extremely nice

mrs. gerry butler | london, england | 09/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is a very raunchy right to the point film which is extremely hilarious as long as you have a very open mind and are not at all prudish. gerry and katherine play off each other with great ease and are very comfortable in this very funny sex comedy about how men really think about sex and relationships according to mike,gerrys character, against kathys character, who is a very uptight conventional chick. the film is all about their inevitable clashes against their varied opinions on this topic and how they survive working together on a early morning chat show. i thoroughly recommend this film for an extremely comedic time for both men and women. it is not your usual chick flick and most people will be able to connect with this film and its morales, even though they might not want to admit it."

Its not Sleepless in Seattle...

A. Bookworm | 12/06/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The romance between them wasn't believable and they needed to give you a few more reasons to like the main characters.

I found myself thinking at the end "he only wants her because some other guys got her, if she were chasing him he wouldn't be able to run away fast enough". The "Ugly Truth" he spouts out at the top of the show does ring a little too true which is also just sad and depressing. It basically points out all the negative stereotypes regarding men and women and pricks up the ears of all those little insecurities you thought you were evolved and grown up enough to put behind you. Instead of cozying up on the couch and feeling romantic, this movie leaves you sitting there with your significant other distracted by the possible triumph of being right all along, wondering if men ARE really one track minded, purely visual creatures who and are only looking for one thing and are not really capable of loving someone deeply and being vulnerable to them, and wondering if men think women are either controlling, gold digging, needy, and insecure or sleaze balls with fake everything and no brain cells, which is, by the way, how men prefer them hands down. Neither one of these pictures leaves a good taste in your mouth unyet the story-line keeps reenforcing these misconceptions. Its like a joke that is almost funny, you might snicker a bit in the moment, but then you walk away thinking, "that guy just totally slammed me!"

There didn't seem to be any real "ah-ha" moment where the characters redeemed themselves or you thought they were going to end up together long term. Its clear they want each other but that is as far as it goes. He makes her into the perfect game playing, scantly clad bimbo in 6 inch heels who never criticizes a man she likes or has a feeling or opinion outside of the bedroom and there is never a moment where you see him (or the guy she is trying to snare) realize he would rather have someone real. Butler and Heigl get drunk, share a kiss in an elevator, pull away from each other, and later he finds her in her room with her boyfriend and then he's in love with her? I dont know, just thought they were missing the "B" in the A+B=C romantic comedy formula. Must have been written by teenage boys; pretty, uptight, comfort over style girl meets testosterone oozing guy who redresses her in sleazy clothes tells her to lengthen her hair "because men like something to grab on to", teaches her how to play a proper game of chase to entertain the man she wants, and then after seeing what a good job he's done loosening her up decides he wants her for himself, all the while never missing an opportunity to say as many crude things as possible in each scene and explore ridiculous fantasies about what that lady in the next table over in a fancy restaurant may be doing to entertain herself and at the same pulling a "Home Improvement" style, "Tim the tool man Taylor" type spin on the famous Meg Ryan scene in "Harry Met Sally". Stupid. Just one women's opinion..."

Raunchy yet has some heart at times

F. Norris | Phoenix AZ | 01/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the raunch and predictable plot, this movie has some great acting and touching moments that ring true. I rented it and watched it more than once. Every time I watched it....this movie grew on me. Hands down has the best dance scene and kissing scene of any movie of at least the past ten years. If you are of fan of Katherine Heigl or Gerard Butler....you'll love this movie for sure."